1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved circuit board panel assembly and to an improved retainer particularly for use therewith. More particularly it relates to improvements in retainers for retaining panels including circuit boards in racks and to a novel fluid-cooled chassis, or rack, in which the retainer is especially useful.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The virtually universal use of printed circuit boards in the electronics industry has led to the development of a wide variety of chassis structures, or racks, in which a number of such boards can be mounted in a compact group connected at one edge, usually by contacts on the board's edge which engage sockets, to a common mother board.
In order to retain boards in their racks more securely than by the sockets alone, various types of retainers have been developed, examples of which are disclosed in the Prater U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,198 and Husted et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,601.
The requirements of advancing technology have created a need for an improved retainer which is of utility in all applications in which a board is to be retained in a rack, and easily inserted or removed.
The principal objects of the present invention are to provide an improved retainer capable of elastically wedging a board within its rack slot while compensating for variations in the dimensional tolerances of the board and its slot; which acts to press the board or its carrier against a side of its slot in the chassis, adapting it for use in applications in which a coolant is to be circulated from the chassis into the board's interior and which may be easily actuated or released without the aid of any tool. Of particular importance is the object of developing an improved retainer which may be operated easily with gloved hands, as in a military aircraft. One further object if to develop a retainer which self aligns the printed circuit board on insertion and eliminates the need for connectors having aligning pins.
A further object of this invention in to provide a side opening cooling assembly in which the openings in the chassis and each cooled circuit board are on the side and mating under the pressure of the improved retainer. Effective sealing of the circuit board openings to the chassis is obtained and improved cooling is facilitated. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.